I. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to the field of data processing and to systems and methods for generating mass reports. More particularly, the invention relates to computerized systems and methods for generating mass reports and report tapes or files that may be generated based upon user-defined report parameters.
II. Background Information
In today's information intensive environment, companies must manage a large volume of data to conduct business. Employees often must analyze large volumes of data to produce reports, particularly in the financial field. Due to the large amount of data, many companies have expanded their reliance on electronically stored data and, as a result, use databases to meet this increasing challenge.
Modern servers and networks allow companies to distribute large amounts of data to employees at various locations. However, due to the volume of data that is stored electronically, companies often are presented with a significant challenge when distributing the data because companies increasingly want to allow employees to share large volumes of data, both in electronic and hard copy form.
For example, employees may wish to distribute data in an electronic format, such as a PDF (portable document format) file so that the data may be viewed but cannot be altered. Still further, employees may wish to print reports, such as financial reports or analysis, as hard copies. At any give time, a large organization company may have a thousand or more large print jobs. Such a large volume may occur because employees may be required to print many variations of reports, particularly in the area of financial analysis. Also, employees may wish to convert the reports into a PDF file for later viewing when, for example, an employee is able to access a document away from the office or when visiting a client. As a result, a large business may require a significant amount of computing resources to manage the large volume of print jobs.
However, since employees are often located at personal computers, processing resources are limited. For example, a large report may take a typical personal computer a significant amount of time to generate. While the report is being generated, the user may be unable to work on other tasks. Furthermore, printers in an office may be limited and may not have enough memory to process a large print job.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems, methods, and computing tools that effectively and efficiently assist in the management, generation, and distribution of print jobs, including mass print jobs. Moreover, there is a need for such solutions that can address different processing needs, including whether an employee wishes to print hard copies of reports or would rather distribute or store the reports in electronic format, such as a PDF file.